Lucy Agnes Blois Turner
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W.S. Gilbert: For the Birds (and Beasts)
W.S. Gilbert was known for his irascible disposition, quick temper and readiness to fight any person whom he thought deserved to be taken down. But he had a soft spot for animals and birds of all kinds, and his home of Grim’s Dyke was also home to a wide variety of creatures. Hesketh Pearson says in W.S. Gilbert, His Life and Strife: “His estate became a sort of zoological gardens… In his idyllic oasis of lawns, flowers, trees, bracken, rhododendrons, fruit gardens, ferns and beehives, he had made a lake of one-and-a-half acres, and the whole place was a sanctuary for birds and animals, many of which were quite at…
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Christmas with the Gilberts
Though William and Kitty Gilbert never had any children of their own, they both enjoyed the company of young people and loved to give lavish parties for the children of friends and family. One young lady who enjoyed their parties was Kate Terry Gielgud – the daughter of actress Kate Terry and Arthur James Lewis (a silk merchant of the firm of Lewis & Allenby), and the mother of famed actor Sir John Gielgud. In Kate Terry Gielgud: An Autobiography (1953), she explained, “Both author and composer were friends of my parents, and Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert invited us every year to Christmas parties in their house…” Born in 1868,…
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The Real Lucy Turner
Why Lucy Turner? Why, you might ask, if I am such a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan, would I choose Lucy Turner as my amateur sleuth? Because, as Gilbert’s wife, Lucy had a ring-side seat when it came to nearly everything that Gilbert and Sullivan did during the twenty-odd years of their working partnership. And because she isn’t as well-known to history as the two men, she might well have had certain adventures that are unknown to history! What sort of a person was Lucy? As history tells us, Lucy Agnes Blois Turner was born on November 14, 1847. Her astrological sign was Scorpio. To paraphrase Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs,…
- Lucy Agnes Blois Turner, Victorian feminism, Victorian love and marriage, Victorian medicine, Victorian women, Victoriana
Mrs. Robinson’s Disgrace: A Book Review
I highly recommend Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady to anyone who wants to read a fascinating account of one woman's life and struggles during the mid-Victorian era.
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Skittles the Victorian Courtesan
In the first of my upcoming mystery stories featuring Lucy Turner and William Gilbert, Lucy gets to know the Duchess of Sanditon, a young woman with a checkered past – before marrying her older, war-hero Duke, she had worked as a “pretty horsebreaker” just like the famous real-life courtesan, Skittles. Who was Skittles, you ask? Skittles was the nickname of Catherine Walters, Small and slender with blue gray eyes and chestnut hair, she was exceptionally beautiful and dressed with excellent taste. Her personality has been described as bubbly, outspoken, direct and bawdy, as well as affectionate and sympathetic even toward lovers who had left her. She never wrote…
- Gilbert and Sullivan, Lucy Agnes Blois Turner, Victoriana, Victorians at home, Victorians at table, W S Gilbert
Christmas, Victorian-style
During the Victorian era, Christmas became centered around the family. Celebrating the holiday became a matter of bringing together the whole family to share in the feasting, gift giving, entertainments and parlor games. This is thanks in large part to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The Illustrated London News in 1848 showed a picture of the royal couple and their young family (the couple had had six children by then: Victoria, Albert Edward, Alice, Alfred, Helena and Louise) celebrating around a decorated Christmas tree, and soon Britons adopted the Germanic tradition of having a tree lit by candles and adorned with home-made decorations including tiny baskets of goodies, fruits, and…
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An Interview with Lucy Turner
Allow me to introduce you to Miss Lucy Agnes Blois Turner of Victoria Road, Kensington. All Lucy really wants is to be the mistress of her own destiny. Sadly, in the Year of our Lord 1866, young ladies – especially those who are members of the large Turner clan, with sisters, aunts and cousins that are reckoned up by dozens – are distinctly NOT encouraged to become mistresses of anything! The Victorian ideal of womanhood is the Angel in the House, sweet and modest, caring and self-effacing – although it is likely that, in the Turner family, this ideal is honored more in the breach than in the observance. Today, The Author…